Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 50898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Elune’s smile grew as she poured from the clay pot, filling the cup in front of Fawn with the hot brew, her aged hand graceful and steady.
“Aye, Lord Rhodes has been more than generous to me, and it is because of your selflessness.”
Fawn shook her head. “Nonsense, the bargain will cause me no suffering nor my forest friends. So, all worked out well.”
She hoped it was true and that her decision hadn’t been a foolish one.
For a time, they sipped in silence. Then Elune’s gaze sharpened, her voice dropping low. “Tell me, what truly happened with the flock?”
Fawn shared the news, so that the truth would spread and the wolves would be blamed no more. “It wasn’t the wolves. Of that I am certain. The sheep were torn but not eaten. The fur I found was from hounds, wolfhounds. Men had to have had a hand in this.”
Elune’s eyes darkened, her fingers tightening around her shawl. “Or there could be something darker afoot than hungry beasts.”
Fawn frowned. “Darker?”
The old woman’s voice turned to a whisper. “Magic, lass. Perhaps not the wild kind you know, the kind that draws creatures to you, but magic twisted, bent to cruelty. I have seen it before. A hand guiding what should not be guided.”
Fawn stiffened, her heart leaping at the word and Sprig returning to her lap as if he sensed danger.
Magic.
The very thing her mother could sometimes wield unwisely.
“You think this was done by dark magic?” Fawn asked, not having given it a thought.
“I think it is possible. And if so, then there is more at stake than sheep, more even than your clan. There are powers that do not forgive trespass into their realm.”
A shiver slid down Fawn’s spine despite the warmth of the hot brew and the hearth’s heat.
Elune’s eyes lingered on Fawn’s, shadowed with worry. “Be careful. Trouble like this does not stir without reason.”
Fawn tightened her hands around the cup, the chamomile brew suddenly tasting bitter on her tongue. Elune’s quiet warning pressed heavy on her chest, but Fawn forced a small smile.
“You’re safe here now. That’s what matters.”
Elune gave her a long, searching look, then patted her hand. “Safe for the moment, aye. But you, lass… take care with the laird. The wolves may not have harmed you, but men are another matter.”
Fawn tucked Sprig into the pouch and rose, setting her empty cup aside. “I’ll manage him.”
She left the cottage with those words still clinging to her lips. Outside, snow drifted softly across the village, and as she turned down the lane, she nearly collided with the man himself.
Rhodes filled the narrow way, his cloak dusted white, his dark gaze sweeping over her at once. His hand shot out, steadying her by the arm.
“You slip from me too easily,” he muttered, his tone rough but threaded with something else, relief, perhaps, though he masked it well.
Fawn lifted her chin, her heart leaping in spite of herself. “Perhaps you don’t hold tight enough.”
His mouth curved faintly, dangerously. “Oh, I hold plenty tight, wife. Don’t tempt me to prove it.”
The heat in his gaze sparked against hers, warming her far more than the cloak drawn about her shoulders. For a long moment, neither moved, the hush of falling snow wrapping them in their own small world.
The warmth of his hand lingered on her arm, his nearness too unsettling, and Fawn drew in a steadying breath. She brought herself back to the moment, forcing her heart to still.
“I will return to my cottage,” she said firmly. “There are wounded creatures that need tending, and I will be back in the morning.”
Rhodes’s dark brows lifted, and a laugh rumbled low in his chest. “Have you forgotten so quickly, lass? You are my wife now. Your place is here, with me. Not running back to your beasts.”
Fawn’s chin tilted higher, but her pulse quickened all the same.
He leaned closer, his voice dropping rough and deliberate. “And besides… our vows are not yet sealed. The marriage must be consummated.”
She stared at him for several heartbeats, several breaths, fire sparking in her green eyes, and two words shot with the speed of a released arrow from her mouth. “Not tonight.”
CHAPTER 12
Rhodes leaned down until his face was so close she could feel the heat of his breath against her cheek. His dark eyes locked on hers, unbending.
“You’ll not be going anywhere without my permission.”
Fawn’s lips curved, though her heart thudded in her chest. “That’s not likely,” she shot back, her voice sharp enough to cut through the cold.
Two men carrying firewood slowed, then stopped just out of reach, pretending to shift their bundles but their eyes were fixed on the laird and his new wife. A woman drew her child close and hushed him as she lingered nearby.
Rhodes’s jaw tightened. “You forget yourself, wife.”
“I forget nothing,” she countered, chin lifting. “Least of all that I belong to no man’s command. Not even yours.”